Program Stories

Pontiac High School (PHS) was accepted into the SME PRIME (Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education) program in 2020-21. PHS received a grant from PRIME that allowed it to create new manufacturing career pathways for students and purchase state-of-the-art equipment: a three-piece Festo MecLab, a Festo Didactic AC/DC Training System, a Verisurf part tester, a Starrett PMI kit, and a variety of hand tools from Starrett and Snap-on.

Lindsey Prestholdt received SME Education Foundation scholarships while majoring in mechanical engineering at North Dakota State University. Lindsey plans to join 3M in 2021 as an optimize operations engineer, assigned to process improvement projects while gaining extensive training in areas such as lean manufacturing.

A combination of administrative, school board and community support — plus designation as an SME PRIME (Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education) school — have made the manufacturing education program a success at Leyden High School District 212, located in a northwest Chicago suburb.

Rachel Linder, recipient of a 2019 SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship, found that engineering was an educational path to pursue when she realized that it combined her strengths and interests. Now a student at the University of Louisville studying mechanical engineering, Rachel credits support and encouragement from her parents and engaging teachers for her preparation.

Receiving an SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship in 2018 meant a lot to Emily Redekopp, a mechanical engineering student who’s in her junior year at South Dakota State University. Engineering is in Redekopp’s family — her father is a mechanical engineer. But she has also always had a great interest in STEM subjects, which led her to participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition as a high school student.

In the wake of COVID-19, educators at Pine Bush High School and Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD) — both of which are part of SME’s PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) program — have taken creative approaches to learning. Pine Bush High School students returned to school virtually in early September. At Saginaw ISD in Michigan, the back-to-school experience in Fall 2020 includes a combination of remote, hybrid and face-to-face learning, including Tooling U-SME online coursework.

Jeremy Kaszycki used his ambition, tenacity and a two-year SME Education Foundation scholarship to help change his life, transforming him from a high school student undecided about his future to an assembly process engineer at Magna International, a Tier One automotive supplier.

Cedar Falls High School (CFHS) has accrued many benefits from the SME Education Foundation’s PRIME (Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education) initiative since being accepted into the program in 2013 that has led the school to become a STEM leader in their region.

In the first phase of a new partnership between the Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD) and the SME PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) initiative, the ISD will receive new manufacturing equipment while instructors at seven high schools receive virtual and on-site professional development.

Scholarships can mean much more than financial support, says Kyle Riegel, recipient of the 2008 SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship. Kyle is a field sales engineer with Schunk Carbon Technology in Iowa. A 2008 graduate of Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, Kyle currently serves on their engineering board.